


Not a Grinch After All

by literaryshoes



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Mistletoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-08
Packaged: 2018-02-28 16:56:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2739998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literaryshoes/pseuds/literaryshoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's November the first, and Mel Bush is in the Christmas spirit. Ace McShane is decidedly... not.</p>
<p>A Tumblr Doctor Who Secret Santa gift for monsterfisken.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not a Grinch After All

The moment Ace woke up that morning, she knew something was wrong. Rather than being woken up by the annoying, grating hum of her alarm clock, she’d been awakened by a far more unpleasant sound… actual humming. “White Christmas,” to be specific. Ace groaned, realizing what this meant. She checked the desk calendar she kept on her bedside table. “November the first… ugh.” 

A few moments later, the source of the humming walked into the room. “Good morning,” said Mel, a brighter smile than usual on her face. She continued humming, changing the tune to “Jingle Bells” as she began placing porcelain reindeer and snowmen on every flat surface she could find. 

“What are you doing?” asked Ace. 

“I’m decorating,” said Mel. “It’s our first Christmas together!” 

“No, it isn’t. It’s November first,” said Ace. 

Mel’s smile grew impossibly bigger. “I know,” she said. “And I want everything to be perfect.” She sighed happily. “I love Christmas. It’s my favorite.” 

“Apparently,” said Ace. “And apparently it starts on November the first.” 

Mel scowled, hands on hips. “Don’t tell me you aren’t in the holiday spirit.” 

“No,” said Ace. “No, I’m really not.” 

“Hmph,” said Mel. “You’re just a Grinch.” She turned on her heel, walking out of the bedroom. As she walked out, she began singing. “It’s the most wonderful tiiiiime of the year…” 

“No, it isn’t!” Ace called after her, before rolling her eyes and collapsing back onto the pillow. \--  
About half an hour later, Ace woke up properly, getting dressed and stepping out of the bedroom. What she saw nearly made her dive back under the covers.  
Every shelf, countertop and table was covered with figurines of Santa Claus, elves and reindeer. Jingle bells dangled from every door and drawer knob. (Ace knew right then she’d get annoyed with hearing jingling every time she went to get a fork or find a hair band.) The table in the living room was dominated by a display featuring Santa Claus, his sleigh, several elves and all nine reindeer. 

Mel stood in front of a partially-assembled artificial Christmas tree, reading the instruction sheet to figure out how to assemble it. Ace knew she had to act quickly. She snatched the instructions out of Mel’s hands, holding them above her head. 

“Hey!” said Mel. “Give those back to me, you Grinch!” 

“Not unless you promise to stop this,” said Ace. “I don’t want to have my Christmas tree up now. It’s November. There’s an entire month and twenty-five days until Christmas Day.” 

Mel sighed. “If I don’t put up the tree, will you stop acting like such a Grinch?” 

Ace smiled. “It’s a deal.” 

Mel smirked. Ace had no idea what she’d just promised.  
\--  
Mel started small: playing instrumental versions of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and “Carol of the Bells” at dinner. Ace, upon realizing what Mel was trying to do, had gone into the bedroom, retrieved her boombox and played radio static loud enough to drown out the music. Mel scowled, and Ace smiled.

“Grinch,” said Mel. Ace just smiled wider and continued eating her dinner.

The next morning, Ace woke up to find dozens of paper snowflakes dangling from the bedroom ceiling. One of them had brushed her face as she sat up, and she spent a solid minute pulling down as many as she could reach.

It continued like this for an entire month. Mel would find some way to sneak something festive into Ace’s normal routine, and Ace would retaliate by removing it or finding some other way to make it less conspicuous. There were moments when Ace wanted to complain about it, but Mel had kept her end of the deal: the Christmas tree remained in the living room closet, unassembled. \--  
Mel came home one evening, immediately confused. The fairy lights she had strung up around the windows had been plugged in and twinkled warmly at her. She unlocked the door and pulled it open, to be greeted by the sound of… wait a moment. “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was playing. That couldn’t be right. She walked inside, closing the door behind her.

Ace stood in the living room, reading the instructions for the now-mostly-assembled Christmas tree. “Good, you’re home. I could use your help,” said Ace.

Mel stared. “But I… I thought you were just a Grinch, that you didn’t like Christmas.”

Ace gave her a small smile. “I like Christmas. Just not in November. Anyway, I’ve got most of this put up. Just need some help getting the top bits where they need to be.”

With a bright smile, Mel helped Ace put the last pieces of the tree together. Ace stood back a short distance when they had finished, bending a few branches to make it look fuller. Mel brought out a small bag from the closet, a bag she’d been saving for a few months now.

“I bought us a couple of personal ornaments,” she said. “They aren’t very fancy, but I picked them out especially for us.”

“Brilliant,” said Ace. “Let’s see them.”

Mel grinned. “Well, I’m sure you’ll understand the first one right away.” She pulled out the ornament and handed it to Ace, who burst out laughing. She slipped the loop of thread on the tiny milkshake over the end of one of the branches.

The next ornament was a carrot, obviously of personal significance to Mel. Ace wondered exactly where she was able to find an ornament shaped like a carrot, but she simply chuckled to herself as she put the ornament onto the tree.

“Right,” said Ace. “I’ll get the rest of the ornaments out.”

The rest of the evening was spent in a blur of decorating the Christmas tree, putting up the last few decorations and eating dinner. After they’d finished eating, Ace looked over at Mel with a small smile on her face. “You know, there’s one decoration I seem to have forgotten,” she said.

“Oh?” said Mel.

“Yeah,” said Ace. She pulled a small spring of plastic mistletoe from her pocket, holding it over her head. Mel smiled, leaning over to give her a kiss.

“I guess you really aren’t a Grinch after all,” said Mel.

“No, I’m not. So if you don’t mind, could we leave the decorating until at least December next year?” said Ace.

Mel laughed. “It’s a deal.”


End file.
